A Not So Blue Christmas
by esprit en deuil
Summary: Tony has the holiday blues and Gibbs is determined to make him feel better. Mild slash.


_**A/N: Hiya All! Here is my contribution to the christmas ficcies this year! This fic features milder than mild slahiness of the Tibbs variety. Thank you so much to my wonderful beta Finlaure who is a dear friend of mine and did a wondeful job of making this fic a better read for all of my wonderful readers and also came up with the title. Hope you all enjoy!**_

It had been one of the hottest years that the people of Washington D.C could remember. The heat wave of the summer had lasted longer than anyone wanted to think and the fall that followed did little to drop the warm temperatures and give the air that fresh crisp feel of autumn.

The abnormal weather seemed to have an effect of making people even crazier than they normally were. All of the branches of law enforcement were swamped with cases ranging from minor thefts to murders and kidnappings. By the time December rolled round, everyone was ready to crawl into bed and not come out for months. Though it seemed that none were more exhausted than the major response team of NCIS led by one LJ Gibbs. While the rest of the agency was dealing with the petty officers and their minor mishaps, the MRCT had been working nonstop for over a month to bring down a drug operation. The case had required not one, but two separate undercover missions and a lot of time and effort.

The case had stretched long enough that it was already 22nd of December and Christmas was rapidly approaching their doorstep when they finally got the operation wrapped up and all the bad guys behind bars. The case had taken its toll on everyone, so all members of the MRCT were anxiously waiting to finally get home.

Gibbs looked around the bullpen at his team, they had all done a good job on the last case and looked exhausted and he himself wasn't feeling all that fresh either. So once he received all the paperwork from his agents, Gibbs only allowed himself a moment to let them stew before declaring that they were done for the night and to come back to the office no earlier than10am to deal with whatever fallout there might be left from the case and to file their reports.

That was all that was needed to send the agents packing. Computers were shut off and before he had time to take a drink from his ever present cup of coffee both Tim and Ziva were making their way to the elevator while Tony just sat at his desk seemingly not even noticing that the other two agents had left. Gibbs looked up and frowned at his second in command who made no move to get up from his desk but was just sitting there glancing from his computer to the big windows of the bullpen.

Though the case had been hard on them all, Tony had been the one who had been undercover pretty much from the beginning of the case to the end and as always, being under so long had started to take an emotional toll on the younger man. Not to mention not being completely certain the case would be finished before their first Christmas together as partners had put both men on edge.

But now the case was finished and it was time to go home to get some rest before they would come back and finish the reports before getting to start their Christmas holiday. It was a rare treat, but this year the team had the whole Christmas off, though they were expected to be back on call before New Year's Eve.

Switching off his computer, Gibbs gathered his stuff before making his way over to the other man's desk and trying to figure out what Tony was looking at. Frustrated with not being able to see what had his partner looking so depressed he finally gave up and put a hand on his shoulder startling the other man.

"Ready to go?" Tony nodded slowly but made no other move. Gibbs tried not to let his irritation show, but he was tired and just wanted to get home to curl up in bed with his partner. Before he could snap at the other man to move it, Tony stood up and lifted his backpack onto his shoulder before making his way to the bank of windows.

Gibbs followed the other man, thinking that he must just feel exhausted and wasn't firing on all cylinders, but the words the younger man spoke once they were standing side by side made him think differently.

"Didn't realize it's almost Christmas before I saw the calendar. Looks like it's going to be a black one this year."

There was such sadness in his eyes that Gibbs had to look away for a moment. He knew how much Christmas meant to his younger partner and he knew for him, snow was something important to make it feel like the holidays. It had something to do with his childhood memories, but Jethro knew better than to pry before Tony was ready to share those memories with him.

Right at the moment he had no words to offer to make the younger man feel better so he moved closer and discretely placed a hand at the small of his back and guided the younger man to the elevator.

"C'mon, let's go home." He wished that the old saying would prove right and that Tony would be feeling better after a good night's sleep, or at least a bit less blue.

Unfortunately the younger man's mood hadn't seemed to have lightened during the evening or when they got back to work the following morning. The smile was there for the entire world to see, but still the sadness lingered and his eyes didn't light up like they should. Gibbs knew the man was still raw from the time spent undercover and now the thought of not having the Christmas he was dreaming of as being their first proper one would seem more depressing than it normally would.

He was determined to find a gift that would make his partner smile one of his real smiles instead of the fake one he was hiding behind.

So as soon as his agents were busy with going through all the paperwork, Gibbs got up from behind his desk and with a grunt to his team of "coffee" headed to the elevators but instead of taking the elevator to get to the lobby he rode it down to the level Abby's lab was located on. He needed her help to tackle the mission he had set for himself and he knew the Goth would be eager to help once she heard how down her friend was feeling after the case and with Christmas so close at hand. Sometimes he wondered how much Abby really knew about Tony's inner thoughts and his past, but he knew the Goth would never betray a confidence, not on purpose anyway.

Entering the lab, Gibbs didn't see the lab tech anywhere but since the music was blaring he knew she wouldn't be far. And he knew the way to get her to give away her location. He walked over to the stereo and significantly lowered the noise level.

"Hey! What're you- Gibbs!" The head that popped up from behind one of the machines yelled as she noticed who her visitor was. Abby got up from where she was working on one of her babies and ran to the silver haired agent, wrapping her arms around the man.

"What can I do for you my silver haired fox? Oh is everything okay? I don't have anything for you on the case. I though you already wrapped it up. I know the team is starting their vacation tomorrow and after the last case you all need the rest and I know you and Tony must have plans-" Her words were halted by Gibbs pulling back and placing a hand over her mouth.

"Abs, take a breath." once the Goth had calmed down he removed his hand with a pointed look at the woman to listen.

"I need a favor, DiNozzo is feeling a bit down and I wondered if you could help me get him the perfect gift to cheer him up."

Abby narrowed her eyes at him, "You have a plan?" At the raised eyebrow she amended "Of course you have a plan, I'm sure it's a good plan at that too. So lay it on me oh wise one and tell me how I can help."

By the time she finished the sentence she was bouncing with excitement, causing Gibbs to smirk slightly as he filled Abby in on what he had planned and what he needed Abby to do for him. The plan was simple, but he knew for his partner it would mean a lot.

"That is so perfect!" She cheered clapping her hands as she heard what her favorite agent had planned.

"Can you get it by Christmas eve for me?" Abby waved her hand in a dismissive gesture as she moved over to her computer.

"Oh please, I know the perfect place to get it! Just need to make a few calls and such and I'll have everything ready for you by tomorrow evening."

"Thank you." Gibbs pressed a kiss to her cheek before exciting the lab and heading up to the bullpen. He couldn't help the small smile on his lips as he waited for the elevator to arrive, he could just imagine the look on his partner's face on Christmas Eve morning.

Tony stretched like a big cat at the same time rubbing his face into the pillow his head was resting on. He smiled slightly as he reached his hand to touch his bed partner but frowned when his exploring fingers were only met with cooling sheets.

He looked at the clock radio on the nightstand and groaned both at the early hour and the date that read 24th of December. Christmas was officially upon them.

Tony wasn't sure why, but for some reason this year the whole holiday business seemed to hit him harder than the previous years even though it should have felt better since it was the first year he actually had someone to spend the holidays with. But with the exhaustion and everything carried over from the undercover operation he just felt wrung out. No Christmas cheer to be found anywhere.

And seeing as Gibbs wasn't a big Christmas person to begin with, this year the holidays would most likely pass without much ado. Maybe they could go out and get some dinner somewhere and watch movies or something. With the op running so late there hasn't been any time to make plans or decorate or get a tree, so it would be just an ordinary weekend for them.

Deciding to get up and go see what his partner was up to, Tony got out of bed and put on a pair of jeans and a sweater he found sitting atop the dresser. He made a quick stop at the bathroom to take care of necessities before making his way to the hallway. He didn't hear any sounds to indicate where Gibbs was so he headed towards the kitchen, deciding to get some coffee to hopefully kick-start his brain.

Before he could get to his destination he was stopped short at the sight of the living room. He brought his right hand up to pinch the left one to make sure he wasn't dreaming. There was a Christmas tree in the corner of the room and judging by the smell it was a real one instead of one of those plastic ones. The tree was covered with lights and ornaments and there were two gifts sitting under it, one of which he recognized as the one he bought for Gibbs.

From the corner of his eye he saw a glimpse of something so he turned to the backdoor leading to the backyard. Through the small window on the door he could see his partner standing on the back porch and as he walked over he had to fight the urge to pinch himself again.

He opened the door and stepped out to stand next to his partner who was looking out at the yard and the machine standing at the far side of the grass. The weather had cooled down considerably and now Tony shivered as he stood there barefoot, mesmerized by what he saw. He walked over to the steps and stepped down, reaching out with his hand to collect the white flakes that were dancing in the air on their way down to the ground.

"You like it?" Gibbs whispered in his ear as he came to stand behind the other man and wrapped his arms around his partner.

"Love it. How did you manage to pull off a white Christmas?" There was a smile on his face as he watched the fake snow floating in the air while snuggling deeper into the embrace.

"Abby." That one word seemed to explain everything as Tony nodded his hand before letting it rest back on the other man's shoulder. "She would have been here but she had a flight to catch to see her family."

"That's okay, I'll thank her later."

They stood there for a while, just watching the snow being pushed out of the machine falling down on the yard. But as Tony shivered again, Gibbs decided they needed to move to inside.

"Come on, someone forgot to put their shoes on and it's too cold out here to stand around barefoot."

Tony turned around and pressed a small kiss to the other man's cheek. "Thank you."

Gibbs just smiled and took his partner's hand in his and pulled him up the steps and into the house where he steered them towards the kitchen where he had breakfast waiting for them. He settled Tony to sit at the table before pulling the pancakes out of the oven that he'd places there to keep warm.

After a quiet breakfast the two spent some time just sitting in the living room unwinding before they headed down to the basement where Gibbs worked on the boat while Tony just soaked up the comfort of the other man's presence always seemed to provide.

That evening they were sitting on the couch in the living room watching _It's a Wonderful Life _on Tony's computer while the fireplace and lights on the tree lit the room with a warm glow. Snuggling closer to the older man sitting next to him, Tony couldn't help but think that the Christmas hadn't turned out to be as bad as he imagined. They hadn't exchanged gifts yet but they'd had a lovely dinner at one of his favorite restaurants and now they were indulging in Tony's holiday tradition of watching the movie with a big bowl of caramel popcorn settled on the coach besides them.

Looking outside Tony noticed that the fake snow was once more falling and he turned his head to look at his partner.

"Shouldn't you turn the snow machine off?" He inquired the other man.

There was a small half smile on the other man's face as he replied "I did." which caused Tony's eyes to widen and he scrambled off the couch to go look out of the window. Sure enough, the snow machine was silent on the yard, but real snow was slowly falling from the skies, steadily covering the artificial stuff. Tony turned to Gibbs who had come to stand next to him, and threw his arms around his neck in a tight embrace.

"Merry Christmas Jethro." he whispered to the other man as they stood there in front of the window. "Merry Christmas." Gibbs whispered back before brushing a kiss to the younger man's temple.

The holidays may not have started the way Tony would have liked, but Christmas turned out the way he could only have dreamed off. It turned out to be absolutely perfect.

_**THE END**_

_**Happy holidays to everyone!**_


End file.
